Paid it off themselvesCredit cards$30,000
After a Decade With $30,000 in Card Debt, a Mom Paid It Off in One Year
After about a decade with $30,000 in credit card debt, Jordanne Wells, a mom of two, built her own six-step plan and was debt-free a year later. The GMA segment walks through each step.
Video by Good Morning AmericaPublished October 1, 2020Breakdown updated September 15, 2026
Key moments
“Woman creates method to pay off $30K in credit card debt l GMA” by Good Morning America. We didn't make this video; it loads from YouTube when you press play.
Where Jordanne started
Jordanne, a 34-year-old mom of two, carried about $30,000 in credit card debt for roughly a decade and describes it as a constant low-grade anxiety. Popular money management strategies didn't quite work for her, so she built her own plan, which she calls the Debt S-L-A-Y-E-R Method.
What Jordanne did
- 1
She surveyed every debt: who she owed, how much, the due dates, the minimum payments and the interest rates.
- 2
She limited the credit cards she used so the debt wouldn't grow, and cut her expenses to make the most of the income she already had.
- 3
She automated payments so no bill would be missed.
- 4
She paid extra whenever she could, even tiny amounts, like the cost of a vending machine snack she skipped.
- 5
She evaluated her progress often and looked for chances to ramp up, such as when her children moved from day care to school.
What you can learn from it
Start with the full picture
Her first step was listing balances, due dates, minimums and rates. That list is also what shows whether to target the highest rate or the smallest balance first.
Keep balances from growing
She cut back on the cards she used before trying to pay faster, so new charges wouldn't cancel out her extra payments.
Small extra payments count
She made extra payments of any size. The CFPB notes that the more you pay each month, the less interest you pay over time.
Watch for freed-up cash
Lower child care costs when her kids started school became more money for the debt. Changes like that can speed up a plan.
In their words
“I always think of it as like a low-grade anxiety”
“I limited the amount of credit cards that I was using to make sure that I didn't get further into debt”
Before you copy this path
The segment runs under three minutes and doesn't share her income, interest rates or monthly payments, so her one-year pace may not carry over.
Watch out: It needs a steady monthly budget, and nobody negotiates for you.
Build your own payoff planCommon questions
Which credit card should I pay off first?
The CFPB describes two approaches. Paying the highest-rate debt first saves money over time, while paying the smallest balance first shows progress sooner but may cost more in the long run.
Source: consumerfinance.govIs there a fee to transfer a credit card balance?
There can be. The CFPB says a card company is permitted to charge a balance transfer fee even on a zero percent rate offer, so compare the fee with the interest you'd save.
Source: consumerfinance.govSources
By DebtCheckUSAEditorial Team. This is our summary of a video we didn't make, and nobody paid us to include it. It's one person's experience, not financial, tax or legal advice. Advertiser disclosure
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